Fireworks
by catzrainbowroad
Summary: Yosuke comes to a realization, and when he talks to Souji about it he ends up asking Chie out on a date. Yosuke/Chie fluff, and mentioned Souji/Yukiko
1. Chapter 1

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The small town of Inaba was peaceful again. With the real culprit caught, Adachi, and the streets cleared of the fog, everyone could wander from the shopping district to Junes once again without fear.

It was cold, and everyone was bustling for the end of the year. It would be the year 2012 within two days, and everyone was excited to have this terrible year come to an end. They were hoping for a fresh start, a new beginning. Start Inaba anew after the terror of the recently closed murder case.

The snow had stopped falling for the time being, but they called for more tonight and all through out tomorrow. Yosuke had to admit, it was a nice change compared to the rain, and he liked the cold, but hearing Teddie complain every five minutes could drive anyone insane.

It's either too hot or too cold. Either way, Teddie was never satisfied.

Not wanting to deal with his 'little brother' (as his mother was calling him now), the Magician called up Souji. He needed someone sane to talk to, and the Junes food court was the only meeting place he could think of at the top of his head.

Actually, there's been something he's wanted to get off his chest for a few days, now, and Souji was the only person he felt he could confide to.

As he waded through the thick crowd in Junes, he began to think on it more. It felt like the more and more he thought about it, the more nervous he felt about it. He had half a mind to text Souji saying he was sick and go straight back home, but that failed the second he heard a familiar voice calling out his name from behind him. Very suddenly.

"Hey, Yosuke."

The Magician let out a yell of surprise, his heart nearly beating out of his chest when he spun around to see the grinning Fool. Souji chuckled faintly, much to Yosuke's slight irritation. "Dude, what's wrong with you?" he asked, punching the Fool's arm playfully. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Souji shrugged. "Anyway, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Damn. Yosuke sighed. "Yeah."

They didn't need to say much else as they walked their way to the food court. It was a little less than fifteen degrees out, so they ordered some hot chocolate before sitting down at one of the few free tables. "So, what's up?" Souji asked.

Yosuke put his hands together and rested them under his chin, thinking about how to word things. He hadn't exactly thought any of it through; only that he needed to say it to somebody he could trust.

"W-Well…" the Magician began.

It should have been this hard. Why was he stuttering? "You remember Saki-senpai, right?" he asked as he shifted in his chair.

"Yeah. You had a huge crush on her."

"Dude, you don't have to say it like that!"

Well, it was better than pointing out she had died in April, he supposed. Nonetheless, Yosuke forced himself to continue, ignoring the silver haired boys comment. "Well, it's sort of about her, and…it's also sort of about Chie," he went on.

Souji blinked, but didn't say anything.

"Awhile after we beat Adachi, I started thinking about Saki-senpai again," Yosuke admitted. "I thought long and hard about what she really meant to me, and when I finally came to a conclusion," he paused for a moment. Souji could tell this was somewhat difficult for his friend to explain.

"When I got down to it," Yosuke continued with a heavy sigh, "I don't think I really 'loved' her at all. I think I just admired her. She worked hard everyday, trying to accomplish the things no one else thought she could, and though she may not have meant any of it, she was the first person to make me feel welcome here. For that…I think I just showed her a level of respect I confused with love, if that makes sense."

The Fool took his words into consideration, nodding. He believed the last comment unnecessary; because he believed it did make sense. In a way, a lot of people confused admiration for love. A common example of that are celebrities. When he was six, Souji thought he was in love with the American actress Julie Andrews; now he knows he respects her talent and admires her as a person.

Before he came to that realization, sixth grade was very…interesting.

"Okay," Souji said, "now what does this have to do with Chie?"

"I was getting to that."

He had nearly forgotten how blunt the Fool could be at times. Yosuke shifted in his chair again, his cheeks somewhat red. "Well, I… Well I've been thinking about her lately, and well, er… I, uh…"

"Oh, you realize you like her?"

"Dude, cut that out! And what do you mean 'realize'!"

Yosuke crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. Souji was grinning, staring the Magician down. "I'll stop," he said as he failed to wipe the grin away. "Go on."

Yosuke knew he couldn't stay too irritated at Souji for long. He averted eye contact and went on. "Well, yeah…" he mumbled loud enough for the Fool to hear him. "I always thought of Chie as a friend up till now; I always thought she was going to be that one pain in the ass friend who always gets your nerves, but you can't live without. But that's just it. Without Chie…not only is the day pretty boring, but…she makes me feel happy to be alive."

For a moment or two, everything was silent between the two. A faint smile appeared on Souji's features. For a while, he had actually known Yosuke's true feeling for Chie, even if he never wanted to admit it himself. He was just glad the Magician had finally come to his senses.

"Ask her out," he said bluntly.

"You're pushing it!"

"No, really, I'm serious."

Yosuke blinked, staring at his friend as if he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. "What? Dude, are you nuts!" he asked, the tone of his voice suddenly increasing again. "If I even brought it up to her, she'd kill me! Or worse!"

"You don't know that," Souji assured him.

"I do know that."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No! You don't!"

Yosuke looked away again. It was true; he had no way of knowing unless he tried, but this was _Chie_; the girl who could kick him into oblivion if he said the wrong thing. "Look, I'm not like you," Yosuke turned his attention back to Souji. "I'm not calm, cool or collected like you and can say anything that comes to my mind at random. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm awkward, clumsy, and somehow manage to find ways to offend women without even thinking about it. You're looking at the living definition of socially awkward!"

The Fool thought about his words, and had to admit Yosuke had a point when it came to him being awkward and clumsy, but getting past that he scratched his cheek, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, much like Yosuke had done earlier.

"Wh-what?" Yosuke asked, realizing he had gone on longer than he wanted.

"I don't say everything that comes to my mind," Souji shrugged. "I and socializing is actually an awkward mix."

Yosuke raised an eyebrow, again looking at his friend funny. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "You're sitting here and telling me to ask out Chie, while I'm telling you I'm nothing like you who have no problem in doing stuff like that. I mean, you asked out Yukiko-san like you rehearsed it or something."

It fell silent between the two again. Now, it was Souji shifting awkwardly in his chair, cheeks suddenly turning a faint shade of red. "Asking out Yukiko was a lot harder than you make it sound," he admitted somewhat sheepishly.

"Huh? What? Seriously?" Yosuke asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah," Souji nodded. "I was actually really scared. I've never really liked anybody before Yukiko, so it was awkward."

Yosuke continued to stare at his friend in disbelief. "So, let me get this straight," he said as she fought the grin tugging at his lips, "Yukiko-san…is your first girlfriend?"

"Why is that amusing?"

"I-It's not! It's just…well…"

"What?"

"Well, to be honest, weird," Yosuke admitted. "I just figured, well… Uh, you know, never mind."

Souji chuckled faintly. "I think you should ask her out," he said with a small smile. "Chie, I mean. Who knows? You might be surprised. She could say yes." He stood up from his chair and stretched his arms, giving Yosuke a quick wave goodbye before turning his back on him.

"Hey, wait a second, where are you going?"

"I promised Nanako I'd make a snowman with her today. I'll catch you later."

Yosuke sat there somewhat agitated as he watched his friend walk off. If there was one good thing he got out of this, he felt closer to Souji than ever before; well, he learned something new about him, anyway. Other than that, he was conflicted with a new problem.

He felt a vibration in his jeans pocket. "Hm?" He pulled out his phone, and ironically enough it was a text from Souji. It read: _There's a fireworks show in Okina City tomorrow night. Try asking her to that._

Yosuke's eye twitched. The Fool seriously wasn't going to let Yosuke _not_ ask her out. He heaved a heavy sigh and shoved his phone back in his pocket. He sucked up what courage he had, and decided he was going to do it. What did he have to lose? The worst that could happen is that she'd say no, right? Things couldn't get too awkward between the two and they'd never speak to each other again, right?

Crap.

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Okay, he'll admit it. Yosuke had been procrastinating the whole day; avoiding Chie's house the second he came a block within distance. Instead, he chose to spend the day wondering around the shopping district.

He wasn't outside all day, though. The Magician went home once or twice to warm up and get something to eat, but then he'd go right back out again. He meant to go to Chie's house eventually, but every time he tried he chickened out. It was around eight o'clock he finally decided to suck it up and go; mostly because he couldn't take the cold anymore. Sooner was better than later and freezing to death.

He came up to the Satonaka residence driveway, seeing that the lights were still on. "Well, it's technically not too late to turn back…" he mumbled to himself. Deciding it against it, he sighed and walked up to the front gate. Yosuke knew Chie had a dog, but he didn't see him around; the dog was probably inside.

Inside the house, Chie laid on the couch. She had entangled herself in a thick blanket, resting her head on a pillow as she watched TV, trying to ignore the aroma of food from the kitchen (and the dog barking).

When she heard the doorbell ring, she grumbled irritably. "Is anybody going to get that?" she called loud enough for at least her mother and brother in the kitchen to hear. There was no answer.

"Anyone?" she called again.

She sighed when there was still no answer. Kicking the warm blankets off of her, she reluctantly got up from her spot on the couch. If she was lucky, the dog would hop on and keep it warm for her. There were a few knocks on the door as she put her slippers on. "I'm coming!" she shouted. "Geez…"

The knocking ceased, and as she opened the door she was about so say something; express how irritated she was for their impatience, but that changed when she saw who was at the door at this hour. "Yosuke…" she said his name in question.

The Magician smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "H-hey, Chie," he greeted with a small laugh.

"What the hell are you doing out here, and this late?" Chie asked disapprovingly. "It's freezing cold out here!"

Yosuke wondered if he came at a bad time, or if she was just thinking him an idiot, like always.

The Chariot sighed as she crossed her arms. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Can I talk to you?" Yosuke asked. It was bit more abrupt than he would have liked, but needed to force it out of himself. "Alone? I want to ask you something…"

Chie raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue nonetheless. "Um, sure, I guess," she said stepping out onto the front porch. She closed the door behind her and wrapped herself in the sweater she was wearing. "What's up?"

Now that he had the chance to talk her, it felt like his brain broke down. He felt as if he had forgotten how to speak; how to think. He took a breath, and tried to put the words together in his head, but Chie's probing stare was sending him right back into his shell.

Why was this so difficult?

"Well, uh, th-there's this firework show in Okina City tomorrow night, and…well…" he trailed off for a moment or two, causing Chie to look at him a bit more impatiently now.

"Okay, yeah, so?" she asked, hugging herself for warmth.

Yosuke wasn't trying to avert eye contact, but every time he met her eyes it felt like she was stabbing daggers into his chest. "Is this going somewhere?" the Chariot asked irritably. "Why are you stalling?"

"I-I was just thinking that… Well, maybe would you…um…like to go…?" the Magician finally managed to say. "With…me?"

Chie's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing and her heart pounding. Did she just hear him right? "Uh—"

"A-As friends!" Yosuke suddenly blurted out, his cheeks appearing a darker shade of red than hers. "I-I mean if you don't, that's cool! I totally get it! Like, people would get the wrong idea and—"

"Yosuke…."

"Who likes fireworks anymore, anyways? I-I mean I don't like fireworks. Do you like fireworks?"

"Yosuke."

"They're loud and obnoxious and only keep you up at night, and—"

"Yosuke!"

"What!"

Now that she finally had his attention, Chie sighed heavily. She had to admit, not in a millions years had she seen this coming. Never. Not even when Rise joked about it a few months back.

She knew that for a while she had been thinking about him more often than she'd like, and found herself worrying about him constantly from the work at Junes and the time in the TV (when they had to go, that is).

It was getting cold; she'd have to say something sooner of later. Preferably sooner.

"C-could you say something? Anything?" Yosuke asked awkwardly. "I can't feel my toes anymore…"

Chie crossed her arms and thought about Yosuke's ranting. The way he had said 'just as friends' so suddenly made her a little suspicious. Oh, what the hell, right? "Okay," she finally said with a heavy breath.

"Alright, that's totally cool! No hard feelings and—Wait, what?" Yosuke caught himself, looking down at the smaller girl in shock. He was so busy jumping to conclusions in his head he hadn't heard her right. Or did he?

"I said okay," Chie assured him, her face blank as a bored; cheeks tinted red.

"Okay?" Yosuke asked.

"Okay."  
"Like…okay, okay? Yes, okay?"

"Yes, okay."

"You and me. Alone. The whole thing is five hours."

"Okay."

"There's nobody else but us."

Chie rolled her eyes. "Yes, okay," she said again, and Yosuke was still giving her that wide-eyed shocked expression, like she had suddenly transformed into a boy.

"O-oh…okay," Yosuke finally said. "Um… I'll…come pick you up here?"

"Okay."

What kind of a world did people live in when the only thing you could think of is 'okay' when someone asked you out on a date? Evidently this one and the two of them thought they would pass out. "W-well, I'll…see you tomorrow, then," Yosuke said as he made his way off the front porch.

"Okay," Chie said again.

She watched him walk out the gate and make his way down the drive way, completely disappearing. Chie remained frozen in her spot for another moment or two, before somewhat subconsciously making her way back into the house. She closed the door behind her and leaned back on it. Her heart was still pounding from what had just happened; her cheeks still flushed a bright red, and yet she couldn't help but smile.

Down the road, Yosuke was having a similar reaction. At first he remained silent as his brain tried to compute what had just happened. After he was a good block or two away from Chie's house, he stopped in his tracks. "Yes," he told himself quietly, smiling like an idiot.

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**Alright, so I'm going to have to split this into two chapters. That was totally unintentional, and I hope you forgive me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

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Was it bad that he's spent the majority of the day with Chie and he hasn't struck up a real conversation with her? In his eyes it was. She's talk to him plenty, but all that he's managed to do thus far was a few nods and a few simple words. Why was he being such a coward? He mentally scolded himself for it.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Chie finally asked as they arrived in Okina. "You haven't said much all day."

The city was bustling that evening, and Yosuke was pretending to pay more attention than that. "Nothing's wrong," he told her. "I just… Um…" He had no real excuse; other than he was being a coward, that is.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could he felt her hand become entwined with his. Yosuke looked at her; her cheeks were a faint tint of pink as she looked up at him with a smile. "We're here to have a good time, right?" she asked him.

"U-uh…yeah," the Magician managed to make a faint smile. "Sorry, I guess I'm just nervous."

Chie's grip on the Magician's hand tightened slightly. She let out a laugh. "Come on, let's go do something!" With that, she charged in a random direction, yanking Yosuke along with her.

It had been a while since either of them visited Okina City, so it took them a while to wade through the crowd just to get to some destination. They soon came to realize it was more than just a fireworks show for New Years Eve, but also a festival. That would explain the unbelievable crowd.

They had found a small ice skating rink, much to their surprise. How long had it been there? Or was it just up for the occasion?

"I don't think I've ever ice skated before," Chie admitted somewhat absent mindedly.

Yosuke looked at her as she watched the other ice skaters, smiling faintly. He grabbed her hand suddenly and dragged her away. They didn't go far, and Chie wasn't even paying attention to anything except the skaters as she allowed him to take her anywhere he pleased.

"Here."

When Chie looked back she saw Yosuke handing her a pair of ice skates. She raised an eyebrow before looking at him. "B-but I don't know how to ice skate," she told him crossing her arms. "Weren't you listening earlier? I've never done it before."

"Well, you can learn," he told her. He flashed her one of his signature grins and made her take the skates anyway. The Chariot sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of it.

Putting them on was simple, but once they were actually on the ice Chie knew she was going to have problems. Yosuke didn't seem to have any trouble, but then she suspected he's done this before.

"Wh-wha!" Chie's arms began to gesticulate before she caught herself on what she thought was the wall at first, then to realize it was Yosuke who had caught her. Her cheeks were flushed as he continued to smile at her.

"Don't worry," he told her. "I'll be here to catch you if you fall."

Yosuke took her hand again and started leading her around the ice slowly; just to make sure she kept her balance at a reasonable pace. For the first few minutes she seemed to be doing fine, so he decided to loosen his grip on her hand. "H-hey!" Chie cried out, feeling out of balance once again. "D-don't let go!"

"It's okay. You can do this."

His grip completely faded from her hand, and Chie's arms began to flail wildly again. She braced herself to fall flat on her face, but after a moment or two of that not happening she opened her eyes again. She was standing straight up, and not dead like she had anticipated.

"All you have to do is keep your legs moving," Yosuke called to her from a few feet ahead.

Chie just stood there for a minute, staring down at her feet. As terrified as she was, she couldn't just stand there, could she? She took a deep breath before sliding her left leg forward, her right soon after.

"See, you're doing it!" Yosuke called to her again.

The Chariot was still going at a relatively slow pace, but she found it much easier than she had initially expected. What was it about something that, when watching other people do it, seems so hard?

She was enjoying herself, like she was gliding over air. Chie felt like such a girl, but she let a giggle escape her lips. It had been a while since she's had this much fun.

**::::::::::::::::::::**

After the ice skating, the two didn't really find much to do. They browsed some of the other booths, Chie held a baby rabbit and Yosuke got bit by a goat; yes, this amused Chie greatly.

A few hours had passed, and the two hadn't even noticed the snow falling. At around nine they announced that they would be setting off the fireworks, so the two of them managed to get through a large crowed in the park to get a better look.

Everyone was quiet, since this was only the first half of the fireworks. It was the time to enjoy them until later. It was midnight, everyone would be cheering and yelling and counting down to the New Year. Now, it was relaxing time.

The fireworks were shot up into the air in multiple different colors, but exploding in the same loud volume. Yosuke looked over at Chie. She seemed to be enjoying herself; a smile on her lips, a smile he hadn't seen from her in a long time.

She didn't seem to notice him staring at her. Yosuke sighed, looking away from her as he reached his hand over and entwining it with hers.

"Hm?" the Chariot looked over at him, noticing he wasn't looking in her general direction.

She was going to say something, but he tugged at her hand lightly. He led her in a different direction, saying nothing, leaving her in the dark again.

It was hard to say why he wouldn't speak much that evening, but she felt like she was finally going to find out why.

He dragged her off to an unoccupied space of the park, barely lit by the moonlight. He was quiet the whole time, even during her attempts to get him to say something.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Chie wasn't sure what to expect, but felt a somewhat sinking feeling when he wouldn't face her.

"I just…" he tried to say. "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a while, now."

Chie tilted her head a little to the side in curiosity. When he finally turned to face her, Yosuke looked a little troubled, despite the deep red in his cheeks. "I-I don't really know how to say it, so…I'm just going to say it."

_Well then stop stalling and say it, _Chie thought. She'd rather him blurt it out like before than having to deal with this anxiety. In a way, she was afraid of what he was going to say. She didn't even know if it was good or bad.

"Chie, I… I like you," Yosuke quickly said, ignoring his brain telling him to abort the mission.

Everything was silent, like the earth had stopped moving. Chie just stared wide eyed at him, waiting for his serious gaze to drop into a fit of laughter. A moment or two had passed and that didn't happen, and the look in his eyes… He was serious. He was dead serious, and Chie was mentally panicking.

"Wh-what?" she managed to say. In fact, it was the only word she could think of.

"I like you," Yosuke said again, this time like he wasn't forcing himself to say it. "I _really_ like you… a lot, and it's taken me a while to realize that… A long while."

For some reason the Chariot still didn't believe anything she was hearing. She was hallucinating, right? It was that ikayaki they had earlier; it didn't taste right, and now it was messing with her brain.

"I…" Chie still couldn't think of any human words to speak with. When she thought about it, why did she agree to this date? Why had she caught herself constantly thinking about him and worrying about him? She had the same feelings; she had thought this numerous times, but she never thought she'd be in this situation.

Actions speak louder than words… That was something Yukiko had once told her, and Chie never thought she'd put that knowledge to use. She leaned forward and buried her face into his chest, allowing her arms to roam freely around his waist, pulling herself closer to him.

At first Yosuke was terrified, thinking she was going to punch him or something. He flinched, and his muscles tensed up when she wrapped he arms around him. He looked down at her, and she was smiling faintly.

The muscles in his arms seemed to weaken, as he lowered them and wrapped them around her small body, holding her closer.

They held their embrace for a good minute or so. Neither of them needed to say anything; this was enough.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Chie asked, looking up at him.

"Well…I…" Yosuke averted her eyes. "I don't know."

It was quiet between them again. Everything still felt too unreal for the both of them. Chie felt as if her brain had completely signed out, reaching up and pressing her lips against his.

Yosuke's eyes are wide for a moment, but stay that way for long as he started to kiss her back. His hands trail down her back and around her waist, and her hands make a similar motion up his chest and around his neck, raking her fingers into his soft brown locks.

They stayed like that for a moment or two, their lips moving together as if they've done this several times. Time seemed to stop and continue on as the kiss broke, both in a desperate need of air.

Chie snuggled herself into his chest, not having any intention of leaving any moment soon; not that the Magician cared much.

And wouldn't you know it? Yukiko was right; actions spoke much louder than words.

**::::::::::::::::::::**

Yosuke had dropped Chie off at her house hours ago; it was now three-thirty in the morning. He heard a vibration on the nightstand, and irritably he reached over for phone. He groggily yawned and rubbed at his eyes before opening up the cell to find a text message from Souji. It read: _Did_ _it work?_

The Magician glared at the screen. "You ass," he said before closing the phone, setting it back on the nightstand and going back to bed.

**::::::::::::::::::::**

**Am I kicked out of the fandom yet? I honestly think I could have written this better, and I didn't think it would take me ALL DAMN DAY to write; pardon my language. Anyway, reviews and friendly critiques are welcome and appreciate, but not necessary. **


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